Bell' Amore
by loose
Summary: The Mayor hired a bunch of vamps to kill Buffy. Faith is ready to put flowers on her grave. Fuffy


**_Title:_** _Bell' Amore_

**_Disclaimers:_** I don't own the characters; BtVS belongs to Joss Whedon and ME.  
**_  
Summary:_** Before Graduation Buffy didn't miss Faith's heart.

**_Pairing:_** Buffy/Faith

_Bell' Amore_

The rose was simple, easy to understand, once the way to avoid the thorns was figured, or once the thorns got the right attention and it was decided that they should never be avoided.

Faith thought of thorns as precious, her gaze travelled upon the long stem, greeting every thorn but the ones that had disappeared into her skin. And she saw the rosebud at last, too white to respect but still beautiful and perfect.

The rose was complex, not so easy to understand. Her beauty could never be hidden, never be deceived once it blossomed, yet it always died too fast, and the void beauty left behind forced the arid stiff petals to appear even the more sad and terrible.

Only a few could appreciate the echo of the rose once the song had died.

It was a shame, in the eyes of too many, the petals too soon would loose their purpose; the thorns, instead, would never loose theirs, even if, most of the time, no one acknowledge the fact that they had a purpose in the first place.

The thorns protected the blossom, they were meant to protect it, to live under it and take care of the dirty works. They rarely succeeded though. Maybe the world had seen it all clear from the start, thorns really were useless.

But sometimes they could endow such a poetic searing pain and like vampires they were quick to claim blood. Thorns were biting into the soft meat of her palm right now, the long stem was clenched cruelly into her right hand and warm crimson devoid of any salvation was seducing her pale skin; thorns were useful after all, her own blood slowly spreading over her skin reminded her of it.

She would just clench her hand some more, harshly, without mercy, and drops of red would left her, she could feel them leaving her, sailing away, falling, ending their descend with a hard kiss to the ground.

Maybe she could offer something back after all.

The ground seemed to welcome her bare feet as she walked over the unholy ground of the Restfield.

It was a weird feeling, which nature was still obscure to her. It had been too sudden, too unexpected to think over, too abrupt to stop, too unpredicted to paint herself, too impulsive to fetch her leather.

She had left her flat wearing nothing but faded loose jeans and a somewhat dirty shirt.

And she could feel eyes on her but it was too late to stop now.

Yellow eyes were drinking the sight of her, yellow eyes bold enough to challenge the dangerous night.

She was the one darkness itself protected, the vampire knew that. She was the one that could never be the prey, and would never stop being a ferocious hunter. And darkness would not protect the vampires from her.

It wasn't fair, but she was his princess while they were his slaves .

And she was his weak spot too, being a hunter by nature, the vampires had figured that simple truth out a long time ago, from the day the dark princess had walked into the Mayor's life, shattering the balance and changing the game; but those that didn't fear the sunlight were often blinded by is light and the shadows looked too dark and empty for them to see through.

They hadn't seen the truth yet, they didn't see the truth now. Not even now that the dance was about to end. Vampires could always see though, they were the only ones.

Even if the princess had no rules, she had a terrible weakness. She had been too unaware to name it for what it was in the past and now the nameless feeling had grew.

It had grew too much and too unrestrained. By this time the nameless feeling had achieved many dangerous shades, the brighter was black, it made a hole in her gut and it spread all over her body, crumbling her bones, poisoning her skin.

The vampires thought that even her blood had been damaged by it and to damage precious, rich Slayer's blood was a sin the older Slayer would never be able to atone for as a matter of fact she was going to face her destiny this very night, by the hands of warriors sent by darkness itself.

Sent by him to finally free his princess. But the princess walking the death land tonight was a factor no one had taken into account. Faith wasn't supposed to be there. The vampires knew that she would stop them but the hunting had already begun and the Mayor would find the little brat's head resting on a plate at his breakfast table tomorrow morning.

Yuri toyed with the idea of reaching his mates and call the mission off, but he couldn't move, something had stopped him.

A scent.

The scent of blood.

The blood of a Slayer.

Yuri grinned, the tips of his fangs resting over his lower lip, as the scent possessed his senses.

Many vampires had engaged fights with Slayers just in the name of the desperate chance to taste ambrosia, many had died as reaching for this beautiful chimera that was always whispered but never screamed, many had died just because the smell of it was too much.

And they would loose their focus and drop under this spell and be too enchanted to be deadly. His mates should've almost finished by now and if they hadn't, there was no real reason to step into chaos. His role as a watch dog had seemed pretty senseless when his General had assigned it to him, he was supposed to step into action should one of the Slayer's little buddies show up.

They hadn't, much to his regret. He would've taken them all, slowly, drinking little sips from each one of them as they witnessed their own death reflected in the eyes of their friends, to every body his own personal mirror. A ring of blood. Yuri's game.

Not even Angelous had appeared. Yuri had never seen him, but he knew him by fame. He was sure he could take him now that he was caged in his souled shell.

And now Faith was about to disappear from his field of vision. He wouldn't follow her, he wouldn't leave his assigned spot. If his brothers in arms had ended the older Slayer already, he knew their dust would honour the older Slayer's death.

He stared longingly at Faith for the last time, she appeared deadly and mad to his yellow eyes and different from every creature he had ever seen.

She didn't look alive and she didn't look death either. She had not the excuse of being a vampire to explain her appearance even if she seemed a vampire, she delightfully smelled of death, yet incredibly enough she smelled of life too and that combination was intoxicating to him, to his heart she was a breathing sister. He was all in her eyes.

A scrape of a kid, burning of the fire of a thousands warriors yet looking so soft, too soft. He would love to nibble away the meat from her bones, but she was forbidden to him, by fate and by reason.

She was too fatal and tragic to die by the hands of a vampire. She deserved something more maybe.

Maybe.

Faith melted into the night as if she was the night's only rightful child and any other creatures of the darkness, even vampires, were just the night's bastard children.

Yuri couldn't see her anymore. At last. But he would stare at the memory of her forever, Faith tipping into the night like a wandering child, Faith dropping her own blood for she was holding the thorny steam of a white rose. too tightly even for a Slayer.

Faith, the girl that wore the scent of the Slayer and the scent of the vampires.

Even if she had never fucked one, not a vampire, not a Slayer, but Yuri wasn't to sure about the latter.

He grinned showing yellow fangs to the night.

------------------------------------

Buffy felt burning pain explode sharply and terribly as a rough boot kicked her shoulder and send her flying backward, horribly breaking her kneeling position, her weak legs too soft to react condemned her to take the fall lifelessly.

Low chuckles played as the score of her demise. Her aching body was disrespectfully held in place, anchored by strength into a kneeling position, once again, knee pressing hard into the ground, bended back painfully arching under the moonlight, blood strained hair covering her face.

And ten smiling mouths, twenty sparkly yellow eyes, drinking the broken Slayer's sight.

Her hands were tempted to reach for the abused skin of her shoulder but the fear of figuring out just how much damage she would find there stopped her.

"_Who are you funny guys?"_ She gushed out between a mouthful of blood, the taste was so familiar it scared Buffy more than her armed enemies.

No one answered her.

"Y_ou're vampires, I got that_," the pain in her bones was starting to blind her.

"_But no vamps raised in Sunnydale tonight_," if only she could find the strength to stand and bolt away.

"_You're foreign and belong to some ancient cult, judging by the clothes,_" they were wearing armours that would slow them down.

"_By the way, you should do something about it, you're so out of fashion_," she just wished to be able to feel some resemblance of strength in her, to breath without aching, just for a second.

"_Moderns vamps would never accept you into their little clan_, _it sucks to be rejected trust me_," she grinned mockingly in spite of the pain.

But searing pain crushed her once again, her body was slammed against the grey concrete of a crypt. The skull of her head pulsed agonizingly sending waves of shocking pain though her abused body. She laid on her side clenching handfuls of grass, the nerves in her hands felt like steel.

"_No wonder he wants you death you talk more than he does_," a fanged mouth informed her humourlessly.

"_The Mayor is behind you classy guys?"_ It wasn't a real question, but she needed to gain time, every instant was precious. Every instant could bring her to the right moment, the moment they'll think she was lost, the moment she'll call her strength, or the last echo of it, and run away.

"_To end the Slayer's kingdom forever,"_ a vampire, the oldest by human standard, informed her without real emotion.

"_One die, another is called,"_ Buffy explained dryly. Her heart, though, ached because of it. Another girl loosing her life, because she hadn't be strong enough to defend her own. But it still wasn't over.

"_Not if you die Buffy Summers,"_ the voice still sounded emotionless, and this coupled up with the vampires smiling faces was getting on Buffy's nerves.

They were right though, the Slayer's line didn't run through her anymore.

"_No Slayer will be called by your death_," a familiar voice sang to the night, Buffy shivered but her eyes refused to hunt for her.

Crimson.

Drops of blood were painting the back of her right hand and it wasn't her blood. She knew the smell and the shade of her own blood too well to mistake it. Her hand let go of the grass and made a tight fist, she stared at the blood, enchanted by its bright colour, she stared at it tenderly as the blood made patterns over her broken skin. She brought her hand closer to her face and breathed in sharply.

She shouldn't have smiled at the scent of it.

Yet she did.

"_For your grave girlfriend!"_ It should've been slow, like a glide, a slow dance through the air, instead it dropped fast, gracelessly, and it landed heavily by Buffy side.

A blood strained white rose, the petals now ruined seemed almost bored.

"_Sorry, wasn't crappy when I took it B,"_

Faith leapt from the crypt's top violently, she crashed through the air forcefully, more blasting then jumping, she landed on bare feet, just behind the vampires. Her body coiled slightly as she witnessed the violence of Buffy's gaze on her, it was a physical experience, it felt terrible. But somewhat right.

The vampires froze at the sight of her, she was the one they shall never hurt, they were powerless against her because of him. And Faith shouldn't have know about tonight, they had been really careful about that, the Mayor had wished it so. But the child could turn into a ghost if she wished, the child was a listener, whispers sounded like screams to her, gazes spoke louder then words to her.

Now the vampires waited to understand Faith's place in the matter but Faith's eyes would not even acknowledge them. Her whole being was focussed on the older Slayer.

"_Some quality rage going on behind your eyes girlfriend, bet you coulda take'em all by yourself now. I did that? You should carry a picture of me in your wallet then"_

That game was dangerous, it would get her killed, the Mayor had been right about wanting the older Slayer out of her child playground.

But it was too late.

"I don't have a wallet Faith," the sarcasm was weak, but the power was coming back to her, Buffy could feel the Slayer in her burning rage. She could feel it awakening and forgetting about the pain.

"Neither did I. But I fucking do now and if ya need some cash just scream for me girlfriend,"

"In your wettest dream Faith," Buffy snickered bitterly. Faith's eyes twinkled in delight but, the smile on her face was too big to be real, and the hate dancing behind the older Slayer's eyes was to passionate to ice her heart.

"Or in Xander's," the familiar hunting smirk was firmly placed upon the younger Slayer's face, but it felt somewhat grotesque to Buffy to witness it over Faith's pale, clean, devoid of any make-up, face.

The girl's lips free from dark lip gloss appeared more defined in their natural innocence, and somewhat softer, if such a thing was even attainable, her eyes looked brighter against her pale skin, and sadder now that no eye shadows was challenging their darkness, the body loosely wrapped into a shirt and faded old jeans didn't fill the night with the nerve wrecking menacing lust, the older Slayer was meant to challenge and run away from yet . . . but the energy, Faith's energy, was still there, thrilling the night physically and intimately, and if the sensuality of it didn't feel overpowering anymore the flames of desire it lighted in Buffy's gut felt even the more dangerous to her senses. And impossible to hate.

"_Gonna burn some of my energy big guys?" The_ younger Slayer said, her eyes never leaving Buffy's face for she couldn't, she needed the strength.

Without a word, without a gaze, the vampires all left, their faces still emotionless and uncaring, their unnatural bodies disappearing into the night without a sound, only unconscious growls provoked by unsatisfied hunger accompanied their departure.

They could not act any differently for her life was never to be touched.

"_Pissed themselves. I'm scarier then you,"_ Faith strolled toward Buffy smiling widely, she did know the real reason behind the vampires exit, still it was always a pleasure to get the older Slayer worked up.

"Pompous much," Buffy gathered her strength and finally stood up, her eyes never leaving Faith's face.

"_How many of them did ya dust before I saved the day_?" Faith smiled appreciatively as Buffy stretched her limbs, the sound of bones popping back into place filled the air.

"_Ten,"_ the blonde girl answered absently, screwing up her face into a curious, almost scared, expression as she took notice of the clothes Faith was wearing, Faith noticed the look and read the question behind the green eyes immediately.

Every game had rules to play along to and the game was all they had left.

"_Was screwing, had no time to dress up properly,"_ Faith shrugged, "_hot thing, maybe couple of years older than Dawnie,"_ Faith stated with a air of self importance that looked unintentionally to innocent to appear cruel on her face.

Innocent and foolish.

"_Dawn is thirteen,"_ Buffy swallowed back a bitter mocking laugh, _"couple of years older than her_? And we'll have a fifteen years old, same age as you, Faith," the Slayer said pointedly, crossing her arms over her chest.

She still ached everywhere, _"and don't you ever mention my sister ever again."_

"_She looked older in the eyes,"_ Faith tossed her head back and stared at the blackness of the sky careful to avoid the stars, _"was a_ _fucking little hottie, whaddya know?"_

She lowered her head, and stared at Buffy, her eyes feral_, "all delicate framed, green eyes, blonde hair,"_ she ran her tongue over her upper lip saucily, and when her tongue disappeared back behind her teeth so did her lower lip.

She bit down on it hardly, sucking air in, still feeling the taste of her, in her mouth, _"she was way stronger than what I've dreamed of, wild time we had, I kid you not." _

Buffy's wide raged eyes on her felt like a kiss. Rough and hot.

"_Stop,"_ She turned away angrily lowering her gaze and finding the rose.

The once healthy pleased flower was resting on a patch of ruined grass, absurdly appearing offended to her eyes. But not too shocked by the rough treatment it had received. Some petals had broken during the fall, others still held stubbornly to the bud, their whiteness, now red strained, was an unpleased sight to witness.

"_Don't shit your self, I know little B can't fucking handle the details,"_ Faith's words almost didn't reach her, the younger Slayer's voice was just a whisper, everything Buffy used to be charmed by was missing from her voice.

Faith was staring at her though, Buffy could feel her eyes on her skin.

"_For my grave huh?"_ Buffy swallowed back, quickly forcing uncaringness on her appearance while she eyed the now spoiled rose suspiciously.

But she couldn't held onto her rage a second longer and once the rage slipped away from her so did the mask she was wearing.

"_Fight by my side, Faith." _

Her stubborn voice cracked though the air, like a whip breaking through paper. Her tension was about to break, Buffy just knew, her anxiety was about to melt away. One way or the other. Any answers. Either way she'll be free.

"_Your side is crowed B,"_ Faith answered quietly, her hands hiding inside her jeans' back pockets, she felt her right palm burn as her rose wounded hand slide against the rough material. It wasn't real pain, the wound was healing already.

She didn't want to look at Buffy right now, so her gaze run away to admire a broken leaf, it was yellow, green, brown, and alone. Broken. Seemed very stupid for it to exist, Faith thought absently.

Her head shoot upward instantly and she almost screamed when hands, pained but suddenly strong, grabbed her forearms. Faith found herself pressed hardly against a rough wall, Buffy was pulling all her strength on her, keeping her firmly in place.

The Dark Slayer found herself faced with wild green eyes dangerously staring into her own eyes, easily boring holes through the fake braveness of her gaze.

"_Fight by my side Faith, fight by my side_," Buffy's voice was too low to be deceiving, Faith's body melted under the touch, her nerveless hands unable to react.

But she could not let Buffy win.

"_I would've have killed her you know? I would've teared her apart limb by limb, would've waited for her to die screaming your name because, damn it, I would've made her scream your name,"_ her gaze passionate and pleading felt like a punch in Buffy's gut, impossible to stand, the older Slayer let out a wet sigh, but her grip on the dark haired girl would not soften.

"_Faith . . ."_ Buffy whimpered the name, "_if you had killed Willow you'll be death by now," _She shook her head slowly, regretfully, her eyes growing darker, clashed in appearance with the disarming softness of her sad smile.

The older Slayer leant forward.

"_Fight by my side,"_ It was whispered into her mouth as she melted her lips against Buffy's, caressing them and taunting them, passionately enclosing them into a searing kiss.

"_Fight by my side, "_ Buffy's tongue ran under her upper lip, Faith's tongue took the chance to dance in once again, savouring and tasting all that was offered to her.

"_Fight by my side,."_

"FUCK FAITH!" Buffy leapt back, roughly breaking the contact, feeling cold once again. She stared fiercely at Faith, her right hand checking angrily her lower lip to find it terribly damaged after Faith had sunk her teeth into it.

Blood was streaming from it and she could taste it. It was bitter.

The ones you love, will ask for your blood, they would call you on it, and you'll bleed

Faith surged forward looking mad and terrible. She aggressively grabbed Buffy by the shoulders and brutally span her around, to slam her the wall, reversing their previous position, and just stared at her broken in her ferocity.

Blood was dipping from Buffy's lips, thin lines breaching over her chin and to Faith she looked like a vampire. Faith's chest was heaving, her body was broken by shivers and her skin was burning.

"_You, "_ Faith pressed her forehead hard against Buffy's. It hurt but the older Slayer held her chin high and pressed back against the pale skin.

"_You, "_ Faith's breathe was ragged and felt warm and violent against Buffy's hot skin. But Faith still looked pale under the moonlight.

"You" She pulled back slightly, allowing Buffy to stare directly into her eyes. Gazes met hazardously and deeply , and louder than swords, they clashed, fire seemed to sparkle by the touch, the air seemed to shiver and crack because of it.

And the selfish night promptly asked for more.

"_You'll do,"_ Faith's broke the gaze in shiver, she looked at the sky, her body desperately surging up as she breathed violently in.

"_You'll do anything to win B,"_ she whispered. Broken. It pierced Buffy's heart like a tick thorn that could never be removed, and would just live there. and move around, to painfully remember her of its presence every day of her life.

"_I'm trying to save the world!"_ She screamed and launched forward but Faith held her firmly in place. The Dark Slayer leaned in closer and closer, until they were breathing the same air into each other face.

Rage and frustration melted into Buffy as Faith stared at her with cold pained eyes wiping away the taste of her from the older girl's lips.

Buffy just wanted to explain, she wished to, but she was not the guilty part in this one game.

She had just evened the score.

Faith let her go, abruptly, in a breath. She viciously jumped back, and away from her, only to rush forward like a fiery beast the next instant.

She clutched Buffy's right hand into a savage hold, and pressed it hard against her chest.

Buffy's hand bones ached out of pain but Faith was so warm, so very warm, too warm to be menacing.

She felt, through her hand, Faith's heart beat playing madly to a tempo too painful to play slow for it would be to much to hear.

Faith's check was resting against her check now, her hand was still holding Buffy's hand to her chest, her breathe keep warming the delicate skin of Buffy's neck, her hair soft against the older girls' face, feeling like row silk.

Whispering. Whispering.

"_Next time we meet. I won't miss your heart Buffy, I promise "_

Buffy shivered against her will.

The promise sang to the night and the night could not deny anything to her child.

Swiftly the tip of a tongue draw a line over Buffy's blood streamed chin, wiping some blood away, and tasting the crimson liquid.

Buffy closed her eyes against it. Against her.

She was pulled forward and felt a rough kiss on her forehead.

Abruptly everything felt too cold. When she opened her eyes Faith was gone. Dissolved into the night.

Tears washed the blood away from Buffy's face.

No one thought about picking up the rose from the ground.

It didn't matter though.

Wasn't as beautiful as it used to be.

The end


End file.
